Welcome! This is written primarily for people with Type 2 Diabetes. Some information covers all types of diabetes. Always keep a positive attitude is my motto.
I am a person with diabetes type 2 and write about my experiences and research. Please discuss medical problems with your doctor. Please do not click on the advertisers that have attached to certain words in this section. They are not authorized and are robbing me by doing so.

May 18, 2013

Diabetes Symptoms to Never Ignore – Part 1

Part 1 of 2 parts

Warning – are you aware of problems
you could have with diabetes? Many people think they know, but from
the information presented in many articles and on different places on
the internet, many people with diabetes seem to think that they are
not vulnerable to these things happening to them. This is one thing
our informal group does do for us and this is a great help. The
group does keep us humble and we always have someone asking the right
questions when we need reminding of problems we could develop.

This article in WebMD was a topic of
discussion recently and there were quite a few valid questions
raised. I will list the symptoms to never ignore and then cover some
of our discussion points. Please read the article for your own
comparison and information. Because Barry felt this topic was
important, he asked anyone that had a portable computer to bring his
or hers to the meeting. Elaine had hers setup and her husband had
his desktop available.

Frequent Urination, Extreme Thirst
or Hunger, or Blurry Vision. A.J. started us off and commented
how important he found them to be for him. He said if I had not
rattled them off when he thought he did not have diabetes, he would
have trusted his doctor and probably gotten into more trouble. He
thanked Barry for requesting this topic be discussed and this was
good to have this type of article handy when discussing diabetes with
people like him that did not think they had diabetes. Ben commented
that the statement about how uncontrolled type 2 diabetes can lead to
"dehydration and altered consciousness ... which could be fatal
if untreated.” Ben said in the research he was doing, this might
have been part of what started his depression. He continued that if
Tim had not insisted on taking him to the emergency room, he does not
want to think about what might have happened.

Acting Drunk. Ben said this was
another reason he was happy that his brother had agreed to move back
and live with him. One of his recent, but very few, lows
(hypoglycemic episodes) happened and Barry checked his blood glucose
and had him drink about 6 ounces of juice. Ben said he was acting
(according to Barry) as if he had had too much to drink, yet he knew
there was no alcohol in the house.

Brenda said this was good, and asked
how many had medical alert jewelry that they wore. Only six of us
did and she suggested that we talk about my blogs here and here.
Allen asked us to include this blog of mine. Brenda said this is why
she reads my blogs. I know she does not like every blog, but to hear
her on this really is a support for me. I told her so and A.J. said
that he needed to do more reading as he had not read these. He also
asked why we were so concerned with a piece of jewelry.

Brenda took up the challenge and
explained what could happen during a hypoglycemic episode. She said
if we were driving a car during a low and happened to be stopped by a
law officer, we could be arrested for drunk driving even though we
had not been drinking. She explained that not getting treatment for
the low soon, we could pass out, and then the officer could just
think we needed to sleep it off when we could be near a coma. She
explained that with a medic alert bracelet, necklace, or other piece
of jewelry, it might be seen and then with diabetes on it, they might
act to save our lives. Allen said she was right and hypoglycemia was
not to be ignored. We needed to test before we started the car and
develop this habit when we are on insulin.

A.J. said that now it made sense and
John asked if this applied to those on oral medications. Tim said
that for the two he was on, yes. Sulfonylureas could cause a low and
while metformin by itself would not, the two together could increase
the chances of a low. Tim stated that the new medication just
approved could not be evaluated yet, but that all other oral
medications could cause a low. Insulin was known for this, but oral
medications could cause lows. If the person did not take the
medication because they did not feel like eating, then a low could be
avoided. Also taking too large a dose for the food consumed could
also cause a low. He stated that this was something everyone should
be aware of and alert for this happening. Tim concluded by saying
that if we were unsure, to talk to their doctor.

Barry had bookmarked several sources of
medical jewelry and said he would send this out to everyone. Jessie
asked if this was what we did at every meeting. Sue said we are
getting better now that everyone that has an interest suggests topics
for the meetings. She then stated that the help is the emails that
are generated, normally by Tim and others now to summarize parts of
the meetings and provide URLs that might be of interest for all. She
said that these are also sent to those not attending which she said
has helped her. Elaine then asked why when she was not on
medications she would be interested in the meetings.

Sue laughed and said because she has
type 2 diabetes. She explained that because of the support she
received from the group, she was able to get off all medications and
hopes to stay off for quite a while. She said because of the new
members, she would repeat what a pain she had been for a few of us
before she was diagnosed. Brenda said if they had not heard of the
diabetes police, this is what Sue was talking about and she was one
of the worst at getting under our skin. Sue said that she expected
to be paid back, but she was accepted into the group and has not had
this thrown in her face once.

Sue's husband, Bob, then said that he
was the one that outed her to the group and had tried to have them
give her some payback, but that none of us had. He said we had just
accepted both of us and given Sue encouragement to get off medication
and continued to support her. Then he said that when her brother Ben
needed help they were there for him and have been very supportive of
both he and Barry. He then said this on one reason we want to stay
with the group and learn about diabetes as they felt there was more
to learn and he felt this as well.

Then he dropped a bomb on us. He
stated that he had been to the doctor the week before and that he now
had prediabetes. He was on metformin and now both he and his wife
were doing more exercise together. He said because metformin is so
inexpensive now that he feels that the group has been a help for him
and asked if he could be considered a member. The vote was unanimous
in favor.

Apparently, this was the day informing
the group of diabetes news. Jessie's husband, Glen, was next and he
said his diagnosis was type 2 diabetes as well. He admitted that he
was not over his anger yet, but that because of his wife and the
group, he felt he had a home with support without looking for it.
Glen said to me that he was reading some of my blogs now and this was
helping him. He was happy that I had encouraged his wife to join,
how much my cousin had helped them get off on the right path for
nutrition, and he said that my encouraging his wife to use spices was
what brought back pleasure in the meals. He was asked to be a
member.

Next, we turned to Elaine's husband.
He said he hoped not, but admitted that he was using his wife's meter
for fasting blood glucose readings and that he had a few fasting
readings above 100 mg/dl, but that after meal readings were generally
under 100. We told him to keep checking and get to the doctor if
there was a trend upward. He said he would and asked to keep coming
to the meetings.

Jason said his wife was not having any
problems and was normally under 90 mg/dl and I said my wife was
normally under 85 mg/dl but was having some problems of readings in
the upper 50's and feeling very shaky. With this report, our
membership has grown to 16 with about 17 attending.

Tim said we are now limited to four
houses and that so far he had not found another meeting place. Both
Elaine and Jessie said that their houses were available. Bob and Sue
said their house was also available. Jason said he would have to
talk to his wife now and Max said his house would not have room. We
were then ready to continue, but this will need a second blog.

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About Me

I am enjoying life, despite diabetes type 2. I am retired and enjoying the time I have for writing and photography. I was diagnosed with type 2 on Oct 2003, on oral meds for 4 months and they were doing nothing to really improve my daily readings. By cutting my carbohydrates I received the most improvement, but still not enough. Then I requested insulin, even though I did not like the thought of needles. That brought about the biggest change and A1c's in the lower 6's and upper 5's. Now I am working at maintaining them under 6.0 and hopefully nearer 5.5.